Archive for March, 2010

An upcoming US Supreme Court Case reviews the Center for Food Safety’s groundbreaking legal victory banning the sale and planting of Monsanto’s genetically altered alfalfa. The case mirrors a fierce battle over genetically altered eggplants that is underway in India.

A new report shows how the second richest man in New York is quietly funding climate deniers. We speak to Kert Davies of Greenpeace USA about how David Koch is pouring millions into climate denial campaigns.

***
The Washington, DC Busboys and Poets event featuring Andrew Kimbrell and India activist Vandana Shiva will be Saturday, April 6th from 4 to 6 pm at Busboys and Poets on 5th Street. Reservations are necessary
***

Fracking for natural gas can cause flames to shoot out of water faucets and pollute groundwater with unknown chemicals – and yet the EPA has little authority to regulate this process used by the natural gas industry in 38 states. Host Daphne Wysham speaks to Abrahm Lustgarten about the 60 stories he’s written about fracking for the non-profit investigative journalism group – ProPublica.

Larry Brilliant is the director of Google.org, the charitable arm of the massive Internet search company. He makes the case for an optimistic view of our fight against climate change in one of the very popular TED talks.

This year is the UN Year of Biodiversity, joining us to discuss the effects that climate change will have on biodiversity is John Fitzgerald, policy director of the Society for Conservation Biology, a professional society of not just biologists but of many different professionals from all over the world who study and practice conservation.

If you’d like to hear this edition of Earthbeat – please send us an e-mail

Host Mike Tidwell reviews the highlights of seven years of hosting Earthbeat. Including a conversation with famed film critic Roger Ebert on the significance of Al Gore’s movie, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ – a conversation with a merchant sailor who stood on the deck of the first commercial ship ever to sail through the Northwest Passage – and frequent guest Joe Romm on how warmer waters will lead to more frequent and intense hurricanes. Mike Tidwell will continue his work on climate at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

If you’d like to hear this edition of Earthbeat – please send us an e-mail

Environmental activist Mike Roselle faces charges of trespassing, obstruction, contempt of court, and the defiance of a temporary restraining order – so all is going to plan for this Kentucky native. Mike is the author of the book Tree Spiker and the co-founder of several groups including Earth First!, the Ruckus Society and the Rainforest Action Network. He’s just been released from jail in West Virginia for his nonviolent work against mountaintop removal mining with Climate Ground Zero.

James Cameron’s 3-D blockbuster movie Avatar is on track to become one of the most watched movies around the world – and that’s allowed many to look at the movie as a way of illustrating the current struggles of indigenous peoples around the world. Sanho Tree of the Institute of Policy Studies and Clayton Thomas Muller, a member of the Cree Nation and the Indigenous Environmental Network, join the conversation. Muller joins us from Canada – where the battle over oil-rich tar sands on native lands mirrors the movie’s plot.

The discovery of methane being released in Siberia leaves many scientists concerned that we’ve entered a positive feedback loop of global warming. The National Science Foundation says the methane release is a result of climate change. Host Daphne Wysham gets to the core of the issue with University of Chicago climate scientist Dave Archer.

Image: Mike Roselle, Joe Hamsher, and Tom Smyth walk with purpose towards the Marfork Coal Company office. The three activists peacefully entered the office to deliver a citizen’s arrest warrant for Christopher Blanchard and Don Blankenship, the CEOs of Marfork and Massey, who are responsible for the destruction of Coal River Mountain and for numerous violations on their sites. Photo by Cheshire/Climate Ground Zero

Key U.S. Senators say cap and trade is dead. So what’s on deck now for climate bills in the Congress? Host Daphne Wysham speaks to Ben Schreiber, the climate and energy tax analyst for the Friends of the Earth.

Climate deniers’ campaigns against action and their harassment of climate scientists is now taking a dangerous turn. Susan Joy Hassol, the director of the company Climate Communication and Melanie Fitzpatrick, a climate scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists discuss the intimidation.

Then, we hear about a worker-owned clean energy revolution that’s taking place in all places – Cleveland. Ted Howard discusses ‘The Cleveland Model.’ Ted is the executive director of The Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland.

"Earthbeat is one of the best informed and most relevant programs to
focus on climate change. Wysham consistently zeroes in on critical (if sometimes under acknowledged) aspects of the climate
crisis. And unlike many other environmental programs, which tend to
ghettoize the climate issue, Earthbeat is the only program I know that
treats this enormous challenge with the thoughtfulness, honesty and
depth it deserves."